Towry Law

Silversavers

We endorse the above and in fact HL offered us money towards any exit/transfer fees that we may incurr in transfering our portfolio in-specie.

However, it is worth noting that once you are with them, we're pretty sure they will charge an exit fee or transfer fee on non ISA wrapped funds should you decided later down the line to leave them. Wouldbe as well to check on that.

Charity_Dalek

I am also in the same quandary in that I do not wish to transfer to TL and will move my investments to an alternative IFA.

Re the question of transfering ISA wrapped investments elsewhere, would/do Edward Jones charge? Anyone actually done this and have first hand knowledge of the fees? (there was a reference above to £58, but that may have been to close an ISA).

Robert

Silversavers

Charity Dalek - we're pretty tuned in on this one having put feelers out for any EJ clients being charged exit fees and so far we haven't heard of any, apart from the £50 +vat fee to move an ISA.

If you are thinking not to go with TL then you should consider action soon as after 10th May you will not get any more financial advice unless you pay for it and any arrangements regarding additional statements, pay on receipts etc that you had with EJ will also automatically disappear.

Blackdog

I had an ISA with TL, after I met their advisor and gave them a cheque I never heard from them again except for an annual statement. I am in the process of moving it to HL as I feel more confident in making my own decisions on where to invest.

johnsheridan

My account is apparently 'still being transferred' from Towry Law to Loveday & Partners. The hold up is due to Towry taking ages to process the transfer - watch out for them trying to charge you a new year's ISA fee just before they lose your account - a cheap trick not likely to endear them any further to disgruntled clients!

I considered HL too when deciding to leave Edward Jones/Towry Law, but don't forget they are still ultimately an execution only based company. There is no guarantee to their advice whatsoever so it's not really any different from taking share tips from the paper. I'm quite an experienced investor but ultimately decided I didn't have sufficient knowledge to take ownership of the advice.

I'm using my existing EJ broker who is now working at Loveday and Partners and although it's early days I'm very happy with the level of service I've received so far. It's just like the relationship I had before except my account is now fee based (although I'm not charged for advice/meetings). They also now have internet account access which is really straightforward and actually a big improvement on Jones, who were always a bit behind the times in that area.

Macroeconomics

Well, I have to say that there is an awful lot of ill informed comment on here and some of it bordering on the slanderous.

Financial Engineer - as for your comment that most EJ/TL advisers are glorified sales people, well that is ridiculous.

I work for TL and we have probably the largest number of highly qualified advisers of a large firm in the industry, with virtually all client facing advisers having achieved the Diploma stage and a huge number (circa 50) who are Chartered Financial Planners. Considering most of the industry does not even have the Diploma this says something.

When the Retail Distribution Review goes live in 2012, Independent Financial Advisers will no longer be able to work on commission or pass themselves off as qualified based on experience alone. Finacial advice will become a proper professional services industry.

Surely it is only right and proper that a firm employs professional, well qualified personnel, employs a vigourous, well resouced investment process and only works on a fee basis - where its only income comes from its clients and not product providers or bias - where investment changes do not incur broking fees - where portfolios are regularly rebalanced.

If the correct advice is to do nothing, then an adviser will tell you to do nothing. If the correct advice is to pay down debt, then the adviser will tell you to pay down debt. If the correct advice is to examine lifetime cashflow and scenarios, then that is what will happen.

Financial Planning is a pre-requisite for good advice and without a holisitc financial plan, how can one decide what levels of risk should be taken. After all, if yuou don't need to take risk, why take it?

It is not right for everyone and if you prefer to manage your own affairs, then all well and good.

However, this constant mud slinging and low level insult throwing belongs in the school yard.

The Financial Services industry has many, many problems, and a well resourced, professional, fee-based, holistic financial planning company has a role to play.

Bacon1981

You take a charge which goes to the company! Sounds like commission, looks like commission but it isnt commission!

The idea of this forum was someone asking for an opinion of TL. A couple of people have been positive but some not so. Thankfully people can share their experiences and to comment that its ill informed is a little short sighted.

I agree that the standard to which advisers are qualified is admirable. But it means nothing if the advice is run on a American bought platform which automatically runs the report. Put a Michellin chef in McDonalds and you'll still get the same Big Mac and fries.

A lot of what TL does is very good, but I think in dismissing peoples view points on here you are doing them no favours.

smallfry27

I only have limited experience with Towry Law, but it is rather more positive than many of the posts in this thread.

I moved to Edward Jones about a year ago, having been unhappy with my previous IFA. So I was really disappointed to have another change imposed on me so soon. Fortunately my existing EJ advisor has transferred to Towry Law. He was very thorough in explaining all the differences in how the two companies (and their products) operate.

I did not feel pressurised into moving to their IIM product – I could have stayed with an individually managed ISA. However the IIM seemed to have several benefits that suited my needs. Perhaps I am paying over the odds for the service, having now read this forum, but I am only a small investor, and I think it unlikely I could get a comparable product with many other companies.

Several people have mourned the loss of EJ personal portfolios – but were they really all that personal ? I was assigned to a growth/income profile, and received a regular chart of how well I was conforming to the profile. The TL product just seems to continue that theme.

So I will stick with Towry Law and see what transpires. If I can make up the losses I had with my pre-EJ IFA I will be content.

dunstonh

If I can make up the losses I had with my pre-EJ IFA I will be content.

Edward Jones were not IFAs.

smallfry27

dunstonh wrote: »

Edward Jones were not IFAs.

Agreed, what I was trying to convey is that I felt I got better advice from my EJ ‘person’ than some of the IFAs I dealt with previously. Perhaps I chose badly, perhaps I was just too small an investor for them to bother with.

But back to Towry Law. As they hold their investment accounts in Dublin, would they be covered by the FSCS protection ?